Zombies vs. Unicorns

De: Holly Black, Justine Larbalestier

Narrado por: Ellen Grafton, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Julia Whelan, Phil Gigante

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many best-selling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

©2010 Holly Black, Justine Larbalestier (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A fun read...

This book has some really fun short stories on both sides of the isle. I honestly had never read any unicorn stories, but I found myself enjoying almost all of them through this audiobook. There were points during the book that I literally laughed out loud or found myself rooting for the zombies or unicorns.

My only issue was with the audio quality, especially with the banter in between stories. Sometimes it sounded like they were talking into tin cans in the garage.

As long as you can look past the audio quality this book is a fun light hearted read.

A unique, fun read!

I read this book as a teenager and recently thought about it and wanted to read it again. I still enjoyed it as much as I did back then, maybe even more so? There were two queer stories (I had only remembered one), which was really nice to see! I love the variety of the stories, some more traditional fantasy, and some contemporary.
A couple of the stories gave me the ick (two of the unicorn ones funnily enough) but that doesn’t dissuade me from giving this book 5 stars. Also the ones that gave me the ick made me think. So I don’t necessarily regret reading them.
Another reviewer critiqued the fact that the editors of the book, Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, should not have read the introductions for each story, as they are clearly not narrators and it was awkward to listen to. I will say two things to that: first that their commentary is just kinda dorky in general and the fact that they aren’t professional narrators has nothing to do with that, also, in written form it comes across less cringey, because you can imagine it being texted (or emailed more likely, this book was from a while ago) back and forth, and their jesting seems more fitting for a text based exchange. That being said, I could have done without their introductions lol

Fun Concept

Good storytelling and engaging concept. Yes, it is meant for young adults but it can also be for the young at heart.

Fun Anthology Featuring Zombies and Unicorns

This audiobook included a bunch of short stories involving Zombies and Unicorns, sometimes both at the same time! The stories included were:

* The Highest Justice by Garth Nix
* Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson
* Purity test by Naomi Novik
* Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan
* A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan
* The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson
* The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund
* Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld
* Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot
* Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare
* The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey
* Prom Night by Libba Bray

This whole anthology started out as a blog-wars kind of thing between Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier as they argued back and forth about which was better, zombies or unicorns. They both gave, what they believed, were valid excuses why one was better than the other.

I really enjoyed all the little stories and I enjoyed the dialog between Holly and Justine in between the stories. They even gave audible cues to whether it was going to be a zombie story (groaning) or a unicorn story (clip-clopping).

I recommend this audiobook to anyone who like to be amused and who would like to join in the discussion about which is better.

The Narration Review
This audiobook was narrated by Ellen Grafton, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Julia Whelan and Phil Gigante. Overall I enjoyed all of their voices for the different stories and they added to the fun of the overall production of this anthology.

Some great stories but...

The stories have some great spins on unicorns and zombies. Most are great, some are only ok. My main issue is the dumb competition between the two authors who champion zombies/unicorns and their *terrible* narration. They aren't narrators and it is so cringey. And they beat it to death between the short stories. It's not a terrible listen but it's annoying.

Did not know it was a book for teenagers.

Be warned this is a book for kids and not adults. I went to this book based on title alone and did not read any reviews, etc. It wasn't until I got a couple of stories in that I realized this was a book for young teenagers. Sometimes adults can still enjoy these. This was not the case here. Not sure if the authors were actually early teens themselves, but it sure felt like it.

Not really funny or interesting sorry

The stories were just odd, it’s possible that the humor was geared more towards a younger crowd (now I feel old)

Meh..not the worst nor the best ever

I was disappointed in this book. The quality of the writing was inconsistent. I found some stories to be outright revolting. I do have to agree the that the premise is a funny one, and I was really looking forward to this comic aspect..but that wasn't there so much with this series of short stories.